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Saturday, August 06, 2005

Gay Moslems

~

"There is a boy across the riverWith a bottom like a peach!But alas! I cannot swim!"

When awake, there's mischief in his cheek and beauty-spot -And sleeping, you are fettered to the image of him.

line 1685

A certain lad some days ago my heart did steal away,And my affection for him is such that I no longer can endure;Yet he's not once enquired of me with pleasant disposition:See, then, what I must make my soul to suffer for his disdainful ways?

lines 1953-54

Though you may kiss his feet, he'll give you no regard:Though you be dust before him, no gratitude he'll show you.Empty your head of brains, of coins your handsIf you would set your mind on other people's children

"Competing—successfully—with the women of the harem for the affection of the Ottoman noble were young males in various functions, chief among whom were the entertainers, known as köçeks.

"They traveled in troupes and were skilled in music, dancing, and erotic pleasures. The average troupe—named after its leader—would have about thirty dancers, though some had several hundred. When not on stage, köçeks would work in coffee-houses and taverns, where they would serve drinks, flirt, and be available for trysts with the clientele.

"They were highly sought by all nobles of all ranks, including the Sultan. Köçeks wore elegant and gaudy costumes, had long curly hair, and were immortalized in books discussing their qualities and ranking them by nationality, such as the Huban-nameh of Enderunlu Fazil."

~~

Fifteenth century Cairo had a trade in young slaves of both sexes. The historian Max Rodenbeck notes that while a serving maid might fetch ten dinars, a handsome male might sell for 30,000.

The Malmuk rulers favoured Tartar, Circassian and Greek youths.

The wealthier women of Cairo were so concerned by this fashion among their husbands for youths and young men, that they took to dressing up in men's attire.

Al-Marqrizi explained that "because the love of men spread among the nobles so that their women tried to make themselves look like boys in the hope of capturing the hearts of their menfolk."

~~

Reportedly, the homosexuality of Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, was revealed in several episodes of the Arabian Nights.

Saladin (1138-93) was the Egyptian ruler who united the Arab World against the Crusades and recaptured Jerusalem in 1187.

Richard The Lion Heart, had a secret passion for Saladin. Richard also shared a bed with Philip II of France. According to Gerald, the Archdeacon of Wales, they were inseparable lovers recalling that the English king "so honored Philip that by day they ate at one table, off one dish, and at night they slept in one bed. And the king of France loved him as his own soul."

Saladin's brother Al Adel was reported to be very close to Richard.

Saladin himself probably had a relationship with the Turkish eunuch Karakush, a slave.

Karakush was promoted and was responsible for overseeing the construction of Cairo's citadel. Then Saladin appointed him joint emir (with a Kurd called Mashtub) of Acre on the coast of Palestine and in charge of the city's defense against the Crusaders.

The story of Suleiman's attachment to his vizier Ibrahim (allegedly his lover) is as follows:

"Suleyman, great as he was, shared his greatness with a second mind, to which his reign owed much of its brilliance. The Grand Vezir Ibrahim was the counterpart of the Grand Monarch Suleyman. He was the son of a sailor at Parga, and had been captured by corsairs, by whom he was sold to be the slave of a widow at Magnesia. Here he passed into the hands of the young prince Suleyman, then Governor of Magnesia, and soon his extraordinary talents and address brought him promotion.... From being Grand Falconer on the accession of Suleyman, he rose to be first minister and almost co-Sultan in 1523.

"He was the object of the Sultan's tender regard: an emperor knows better than most men how solitary is life without friendship and love, and Suleyman loved this man more than a brother. Ibrahim was not only a friend, he was an entertaining and instructive companion. He read Persian, Greek and Italian; he knew how to open unknown worlds to the Sultan's mind, and Sulevman drank in his Vezir's wisdom with assiduity. They lived together: their meals were shared in common; even their beds were in the same room. The Sultan gave his sister in marriage to the sailor's son, and Ibrahim was at the summit of power."From: Stanley Lane-Poole, Turkey, Story of Nations series, p. 174